Polimex-Mostostal has decided to fully outsource its core transaction systems to BCC. The client’s requirement was that the service be launched as soon as possible. Therefore, as soon as the final contractual terms for the provision of hosting and administration services for SAP and BusinessObjects systems were agreed, the team responsible for the technical part of the project at BCC came into action. A characteristic feature of many system migration projects to a data center is time pressure resulting from the small time window in which the entire operation must be carried out.

In the initial phase of the work, the most important task was to ensure redundant connectivity of Polimex-Mostostal, along with dozens of locations scattered throughout Poland, with All for One Data Centers. This was crucial not only because of the need to achieve high, stable availability of SAP and BO systems for about five hundred users, but also because of the need to meet established deadlines in the migration process.

Secure schedule

In parallel, analyzing the needs of the business, we proceeded to define a schedule for the technical migration of seven SAP systems (3-system ERP landscape, 3-system BW landscape and Solution Manager, acting as Central User Administration, CUA) and the SAP Business Objects system.

A major challenge was the narrow timeframe within which the work had to be scheduled. The systems had to be available to users during certain periods resulting from business processes and formal and legal obligations to external parties. Because of these constraints, it can be said that the schedule “arranged" itself: the only business-acceptable date for the unavailability of SAP ERP and SAP BW production systems turned out to be the last weekend of May.

This deadline imposed on us a schedule for carrying out the previous work well in advance, so that everything would be done in accordance with good practices and provide a guarantee for the safe resumption of system operation – already from the new location.

We divided the migration process itself into three stages:

  • Migration of development and test systems of ERP and BW landscapes,
  • Migration of SAP Solution Manager and SAP BusinessObjects production systems,
  • ERP and BW landscape production systems migration.

In addition, the migration of the test environment for SAP ERP also involved refreshing it from the production system.

Links – an important topic

Installing and establishing connections between customer locations and All for One Data Centers is not an easy task due to the dependence on third-party companies – operators – and their claimed lead times. Based on its previous experience, BCC proposed an interim solution: establishing a secure and stable VPN connection for the duration of the migration, which allowed it to operate and carry out the first stage of the work. This required a great deal of commitment and excellent cooperation between the network teams on both sides, and the result was a time-saver – the migration work could be carried out in parallel with the implementation and construction of the target links.

BCC’s Basis migration team also developed a way to migrate the largest >1.5 TB systems within the designated window in May, using an encrypted device that was delivered to Polimex-Mostostal SA’s server room.

Tomasz Pierzchała, IT Director, Polimex-Mostostal

Rationalization of IT costs
Hosting of Polimex-Mostostal’s core transaction systems is one of the elements of the cost optimization program. We now receive full maintenance of the infrastructure and ongoing administration of systems from a trusted service provider for a fixed monthly fee. The wide scope of work included in the SLA contract and additionally acquiring and maintaining competencies at an appropriate level, as well as the cost of maintaining the full efficiency of the system and hardware platform are now a single item in the company’s IT budget.
By rationalizing the cost of IT maintenance, we have at the same time gained a guarantee of constant availability and efficiency of SAP while maintaining the highest standards of system and data security offered by BCC (currently All for One Poland).
Access to current financial data and an efficient reporting and analysis platform are the basic tools used by the business. The role of the IT department is to support the business by adapting these tools to current needs. This is what we focus on, putting the supervision of the hardware platform and administrative work in good hands.
Tomasz Pierzchała, IT Director, Polimex-Mostostal

Plan ahead and be ready for surprises

A characteristic of projects carried out in such a short period of time, on a live system, is that unforeseen, unplanned situations can occur during the work, changing the rules in the course of the “game." The same was also true of the migration project for Polimex-Mostostal.

During the restoration of the test system, we encountered some challenges not included in the schedule, including those related to BW integration, which were efficiently resolved by the experienced Basis team. In addition, it turned out that the previously agreed date for the migration of the development and test systems had to be shortened, due to the inability to freeze the system for changes within the given period.

These and similar events required dynamic adjustments of the schedule to the new situation. Thanks to the determination of both parties, however, they did not disrupt the first stage of the migration, which was successfully completed on the last weekend of April 2014, that is, a month before the productive migration and at the same time a month after the work began.

The next month was no less busy, as it required clarification and detailing of all the smallest steps on both sides. During this time, among other things, we prepared virtual machines for the migrated production systems. By performing copy and restore tests, we verified the time-consumption of the various phases. All this to ensure that the developed schedule, implemented step by step, enabled the successful execution of stages two and three, within the designated service window.

Key Sunday and ordinary Monday

At 7:25 p.m. on Sunday, May 25, 2014, BCC received a signal from Polimex-Mostostal confirming the positive completion of the tests. Polimex-Mostostal’s SAP and BusinessObjects systems have since been maintained and managed by BCC. The migration process in such a short period of time was successful thanks to the experience and competence ofBCC consultants and, above all, to the open and professional cooperation with Polimex-Mostostal specialists.

On Monday morning, all users successfully logged into the migrated systems running at All for One Data Centers, without any change in the configuration of accesses to SAP applications on the user’s workstation side.

Ongoing maintenance of the system

During the first two months of SAP hosting and administration at the BCC Outsourcing Center, in addition to ongoing monitoring of the system, standard analysis and resulting recommendations to the client, BCC consultants performed work to optimize system performance and reduce response times.

In addition, due to ongoing project work and the need to access the freshest possible data on the test system, we performed a refresh of the test system at the client’s request. The experience gathered and documented during the migration allowed us to perform this process efficiently, within the deadline.

IT without the daily routine

At Polimex-Mostostal, one of the most important factors that influenced the decision to migrate to hosting was the proliferation of systems and the need to optimize the cost of hardware infrastructure and maintenance and administration expenses.

The chosen model for system maintenance – hosting and administration with a trusted service provider – also offers a broader spectrum of benefits, such as the constant availability of experienced specialists, a modern hardware infrastructure optimized to meet needs, service under a fixed contract and SLA provisions, constant monitoring of systems and a single point of contact.

The Polimex-Mostostal IT team, deprived of a number of repetitive duties and the burden of daily technical administration of SAP systems, can use its potential by carrying out development tasks that are important from the business point of view. Issues such as security, availability and system performance are now managed and optimized by BCC (currently All for One Poland).

Polimex-Mostostal SA is one of Poland’s largest engineering and construction companies. For this company, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, two industries are most important: energy and petrochemicals. Polimex-Mostostal SA transformed itself into a holding company this fall. Two companies were spun off from Polimex-Mostostal SA to continue operations. Naftoremont-Naftobudowa operates in the chemicals and petrochemicals segment, while Polimex Energetyka operates in the power segment. Polimex-Mostostal is also a manufacturer of steel structures and products, including gratings, and provides hot-dip galvanizing services. The company exports a significant portion of its products and services. Until recently, it was also active in the construction sector. Polimex is the contractor for the European Solidarity Center in Gdansk or the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. Currently, the two largest investments the company is executing are the construction of power units at the Kozienice Power Plant and the Opole Power Plant.